The present invention pertains to conveying apparatus, and more particularly, pertains to a transfer station whereby articles carried on a conveyor are transferred in a relatively angular direction onto a second conveyor or a discharge station.
Belt or roller conveyors are widely used for conveying articles such as luggage, parcels, cartons, packaged items in warehouses, and components and assemblies in factories. For controlled routing and delivery of the articles being conveyed, it is frequently necessary to transfer them at an angle onto still another conveyor, or onto a discharge station once they have reached their destination. Prior mechanical devices for effecting such angular transfer have been expensive to build, and in many instances have not been adequately reliable mechanically. There has also been limitation with respect to selectivity of the angle at which the article can be transferred, since typical transfer stations have been designed to move the article sideways at a fixed angle which, in most cases, is a right angle. Another shortcoming of prior transfer stations is their inability to turn articles on their vertical axis and thus change the horizontal orientation of the article so that one side thereof can be turned to face in a desired direction each time a transfer is made. Such horizontal reorientation is useful in visually monitoring the articles and/or orienting the articles for storage in a particular pattern or arrangement.